9.14.2021

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts




Take a hit? Heck, even I don't even remember Duane Buck. Here's what eventually happened to him if you are interested.   

  • Downward trend continues.

  • Decatur ISD School Board President Thomas Houchin, who by all appearances speared-headed the resignations of the school's head football coach/athletic director as well as the superintendent earlier this year, abruptly relinquished his position yesterday but will remain on the board as a voting member. The short meeting of the board, where the announcement was made, was the only meeting which has been scheduled for 2:00 p.m. this year. 

  • Wise County government uncharacteristically entered the political fray yesterday by announcing it won't enforce any vaccine mandates (which technically don't apply to Wise County government anyway.) The Star-Telegram's Bud Kennedy tersely took note last night:

  • Well, we've got proof positive that the COVID vaccines are dangerous as rapper and apparent medical expert Nicki Minaj reports about how a friend of her cousin in Trinidad had an unfortunate problem which had never before been seen as a side effect.  So remember, you will be relying upon Nicki Minaj's cousin's friend for your proof. Fox News' Tucker Carlson wanted you to know about it last night (as the otherwise comical chyron incorrectly summarizes the tweet): 

  • Meanwhile, in Galveston yesterday:

  • Meanwhile at the $30,000 per ticket Met Gala in Manhattan last night, AOC made an appearance in a "Tax The Rich" dress. 

  • The California governor recall election is today.  Ever since the campaign of Gov. Newsom rebranded the campaign (accurately) in late August as "It's Either Me or You're Gonna Get Larry Elder", the results have been a no-brainer. From 538.com:

  • “The woman [in Houston] told police she saw the man looking into her bedroom window [last Friday night]. That's when she got her rifle and opened fire through the wall of the home. The suspected peeping Tom took off running but collapsed and died near the house.” 

    • Is she in jeopardy of any criminal charges? Probably not.  Legally speaking, it's arguably a pretty close call but, practically speaking, the D.A. will get the grand jury to clear her.
    • What if he was 5 feet from her window when she saw him? How about 15? What if he was on the concrete area in front of her home looking in a front window instead of being deeper in the property by a back window? What if he was moving away while looking instead of stationary? Does any of that make a difference to you? 
    • And wouldn't we go nuts if a cop had simply gunned the unarmed man down outside of the window instead of the shooter being a female homeowner?
  • Here is some history I learned yesterday that I was unaware of.  In the Spring of 1988, Denton County Sheriff Randy Kaisner, 33, found himself in a run-off election with challenger Kirby Robinson to keep his job.  He then offered Robinson the position of his Chief Deputy if he would drop out of the race.  The result? Robinson said no, won the election, and then the Sheriff was indicted and convicted of bribery because of the offer. 
  • In more recent Denton County news, which is pretty wild but not quite that wild:

  • The SEC fined Arkansas $100,000 for storming the field on Saturday night after beating UT. They'll gladly pay it. But it was a wild scene. I've circled Texas trying to exit the field during it. Watch it here.

  • Wait a second. I get a COVID booster, but yesterday I learn that it might not be necessary? Well, if it wasn't needed all it cost me was an hour of my time. And those scientist who question its usefulness obviously didn't say it's potentially dangerous (no reputable scientist does) but instead say "whatever advantage the shots might provide would not outweigh the benefit of using them to protect the billions of people who remain unvaccinated worldwide." So I might feel guilty about that. 

at 8:25 AM

9.13.2021

Random Monday Morning Thoughts




I remember that kid. The Rangers made him a first round selection with the 17th pick. And a fun fact is that Texas traded him in a package to get Cliff Lee who was instrumental in getting the team to its first World Series. Below is how his career played out. After a poor 2013 where he appeared in only 12 games, they gave up on him. 


  • I'll keep this routine going for another week or so, but we are headed down. 

  • On the other hand. COVID hasn't gone away.

  • I heard that a leading elected official of Decatur ISD and his father were asked to leave the sideline of the football game on Friday night in Midlothian and finally did so after some resistance. 
  • In a wild 9/11 tweet, Attorney General Ken Paxton thought this would be a good idea. He deleted it after about 24 hours.

  • The Brazoria County Sheriff, like all sheriffs, has nothing to do with policing any federal government vaccine "mandate." Nevertheless, he wants you to know he won't enforce it. You know, because of freedom. 

  • The Alabama Governor is also taking a stand against any mandate which has a familiar ring to it it.
    • Now:

    • Then:

  • On August 30th, I wrote "you have a reason to be skeptical" about the U.S.'s claims we were killing those responsible for the bombing at the airport in Kabul. I was right. 

  • Oh, my. Last night at around 3:30 a.m., a big rig went off of Highway 287 at the Bond Ranch Road overpass. 

  • Oh, my #2. There's a person under that. 

  • If you haven't seen the falling cat saved by an American flag, you have to. The crowd's reaction is golden. 

  • If you haven't seen Jacksonville State beat Florida State on the last play, here it is. As one writer said, "[This weekend] had Jacksonville State (Ala.) of the Football Championship Subdivision getting a mind-boggling 59-yard touchdown pass on the final play to win, 20-17, at Florida State, from Zerrick Cooper to Damond Philyaw-Johnson, who caught the ball 19 yards shy of the end zone and still managed to zigzag in through two defenders who appeared to lack GPS to find him." And here's a view focusing on the cheerleader reaction which is really funny.

  • The boycott of the "woke" NFL doesn't appear to be working too well. 

  • The Messenger always has a weekly "football picks" feature which I think is silly because the predictions aren't based upon the line but are instead just straight up. How hard is that? Well, in a couple of instances this week, it was. But a couple of people did have Nostradamus like predictions.

  • African-American QBs this weekend. 

  • I got my Pfizer booster shot on Friday. 


at 8:29 AM

9.10.2021

It's Friday -- Let's Get Out of Here

at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts






They have changed the site somewhat from the way it appeared when I found it 10 years ago, but it's still an amazing collection of television broadcasts on 9/11.  

  • One thing this chart doesn't accurately reflect is how the virus is running rampant right now without putting people in the hospital.  If what I'm hearing correctly, the schools are being decimated. 

  • This excerpt from the Update is from January 5th.  The teenage driver, Aaron Fite, was arrested yesterday on two charges of Criminally Negligent Homicide. He bonded out. 

  • Here are the biggest points from Biden's new vaccine "mandate" (although he didn't use the word "mandate".)
    • All private employers with more than 100 workers require them to be vaccinated or test for the virus weekly (probably 80 million people.)
    • All workers at health care facilities that   receive federal Medicare or Medicaid also will have to be fully vaccinated (probably 17 million people).
  • Back in December, President Biden said, “I don't think [the vaccine] should be mandatory, I wouldn't demand it be mandatory.” I'm giving him in a pass on that. In his (and my) wildest dreams, I never believed so many people would be irresponsible and not get vaccinated.

  • I spotted some inconsistencies in Gov. Abbott's Twitter account yesterday.
    • Point.

    • Counter-point. (Side note: That's another Texas bill which is obviously unconstitutional.)

  • Update on DPS' response to the Haslet incident detailed yesterday.

  • The Justice Department sued the State of Texas yesterday challenging the Abortion Bounty Bill. Since the law was drafted where private individuals, and not the government, enforce it by seeking $10,000, one legal problem is who do you to sue to stop it? Normally, you would sue whichever government arm was going to to try and enforce an unconstitutional abortion ban. But that doesn't work here. Or does it? The Justice Department alleged that by incentivizing private citizens, Texas has created a bunch of state agents to do its dirty work. 

  • It would be in record time, but Decatur's Bryce Elder might be called up to the Atlanta Braves next year. This kid has a chance to be a major league star. 

  • The Fort Worth Court of Appeals issued an opinion on a Jacksboro DWI case yesterday. You want to know how small Jacksboro is? The opinion starts off by pointing out that the District Clerk was a witness who saw the guy possibly drunk at a funeral home. (Side note: Shout out to Tracy.) And the actual Sheriff was also at the funeral home at the same time who noticed the defendant acting a little loopy on his own. 
    • Legal nerd stuff: I was surprised to see that retired Judge Lee Ann Dauphinot authored the opinion.  And although I'm not sure I agree that the case involves a "consensual encounter" instead of a detention, if she says it then it's good enough for me. 
  • Relevant to Gov. Abbott's proclamation that he will "eliminate" all rapists. 

  • Funniest image by a ref last night when he realized he was going to have to be the first guy to flag the new "taunting" violation in the NFL.

  • The Ticket's Bob Sturm tweeted this out this morning and questioned it. Those are fascinating numbers. When the Cowboys were facing 4th and 6th late in the game and down by 2 points, it seemed obvious to kick the field goal. But according to this, if you they made it (and they did), the chance of winning the game was only 46%. If they went for it and converted, their chance of winning the game increased to 57%. However, the chances of converting the fourth down was only 42%. You know, I think these numbers seem about right. 

  • Time which has passed since the Wise County Sheriff's Office has failed to solve the murder of Lauren Whitener in her home at Lake Bridgeport: 800 days.
  • Messenger: Above the Fold

at 8:29 AM

9.09.2021

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts




I tried to find a quick reference to get an updated list, but I had no luck. All I could piece together was data for 2015 (3 people), 2016 (3), 2017 (4) and 2018 (7), 2019 (4), and 2020 (2).    

  • -249 from yesterday.

  • This story is wild and has a Wise County connection. The officer who was shot last April in Haslet used to be stationed in Decatur as a DPS Trooper. He now is working "undercover" but is lucky he's not dead. And it's completely understandable how an innocent man who was scared to death will not face charges for shooting at him.


    • And DPS is acting like DPS: "The Texas Department of Public Safety did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment about Wallace’s status and whether he was ever disciplined. The department declined to provide a copy of the Texas Ranger’s report under the open records law, even after King was no-billed by the grand jury, claiming the case was still under investigation."
  • Elizabeth Holmes is now on trial for her crazy blood screening scam as the head of Theranos (allegedly), but it's a wild seen when she shows up for court as fans dress up to look like her. 


  • The U.S. Supreme Court stopped a Texas execution last night, but it will only be a few months delay until Texas is forced, or not forced, to change its religious protocol. The defendant's application explaining it all is here. (In a kind of related noted, the official spokesman for TDC suddenly no longer has that job. No explanation by TDC was given.)

  • "A Grayson County Sheriff's deputy died in the line of duty overnight. Investigators say the deputy may have suffered a heart attack after a chase and altercation with several suspects following a traffic stop in Sherman."
  • To the winner goes the spoils.
     


  • The (very large) statute of Robert E. Lee finally came down in Richmond, Virginia, and Trump thought it would be a great time to issue a statement not concerned about "erasing history", but instead actually praising a man who led an army in an uprising against the United States in support of slavery.  Trump is who he tells you who he is and who he has always been. 


  • There's a growing Texas teacher shortage. Since 2014, Texas has seen about a 27% decrease in the number of newly certified teachers, according to the Texas Education Agency data.
  • I don't know what's happened to WBAP. It's now a borderline QAnon station. In the last two days I heard their morning host, Chris Salcedo, casually call President Biden a "lawless bastard" and afternoon host Rick Roberts say that any government issued proof of a COVID vaccination would be the literal biblical "Mark of the Beast" and told a caller, who said, the current administration is run by the Illuminati who want one world government, that he was a "good call." It's nuts.

  • I'm halfway through Season 2 of Billions, and that show is ridiculously bad. But it's so bad, that I'm entertained.  I went into it expecting the realism of The Wire on Wall Street and got a parody that makes me cringe. It's the dialogue. The stupid dialogue when a character tries to fire off a zinger. And I bet there are a billion attempted zingers. "I'm like Earl Anthony bagging the 7-10 split" is just one that I just heard last night. The writers have to be doing a bit. Plus, I hate every single morally deprived character on that show -- and that's everyone. 
  • I thought the Rangers would hit 100 losses for the first time since 1973, but they are on a hot streak. They have 21 games left to lose 12. 

  • I'm really surprised the remaining eight schools in the Big 12 hung together and immediately issued invitations to BYU, Houston, UCF, and Cincinnati.  That's the best possibly outcome after OU and the Evil Empire announced they were leaving to join the Deep South. But I wouldn't stop there. I'd add Boise State and Memphis, too.  



at 8:34 AM
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